An employee walking along a thermal pipe at the Kamojang geothermalpower plant near Garut, West Java, on March 18. State utility provider Perusahaan Listrik Negara is targeting an additional 135 megawatts ofelectricity from three new geothermal plants. (Reuters Photo/Beawiharta)

So let me tell you what else they did. They just showed you what's wrong with nuclear power. "Safe to the maximum," they said. "Our devices are strong and cannot fail." But they did. They are no match for Gaia.

It seems that for more than 20 years, every single time we sit in the chair and speak of electric power, we tell you that hundreds of thousands of tons of push/pull energy on a regular schedule is available to you. It is moon-driven, forever. It can make all of the electricity for all of the cities on your planet, no matter how much you use. There's no environmental impact at all. Use the power of the tides, the oceans, the waves in clever ways. Use them in a bigger way than any designer has ever put together yet, to power your cities. The largest cities on your planet are on the coasts, and that's where the power source is. Hydro is the answer. It's not dangerous. You've ignored it because it seems harder to engineer and it's not in a controlled environment. Yet, you've chosen to build one of the most complex and dangerous steam engines on Earth - nuclear power.

We also have indicated that all you have to do is dig down deep enough and the planet will give you heat. It's right below the surface, not too far away all the time. You'll have a Gaia steam engine that way, too. There's no danger at all and you don't have to dig that far. All you have to do is heat fluid, and there are some fluids that boil far faster than water. So we say it again and again. Maybe this will show you what's wrong with what you've been doing, and this will turn the attitudes of your science to create something so beautiful and so powerful for your grandchildren. Why do you think you were given the moon? Now you know.

This benevolent Universe gave you an astral body that allows the waters in your ocean to push and pull and push on the most regular schedule of anything you know of. Yet there you sit enjoying just looking at it instead of using it. It could be enormous, free energy forever, ready to be converted when you design the methods of capturing it. It's time. …”

Experimental
concrete that patches up cracks by itself is to undergo outdoor testing.

The
concrete contains limestone-producing bacteria, which are activated by
corrosive rainwater working its way into the structure.

The new
material could potentially increase the service life of the concrete - with
considerable cost savings as a result.

The work is
taking place at Delft Technical University, the Netherlands.

It is the
brainchild of microbiologist Henk Jonkers and concrete technologist Eric
Schlangen.

If all goes
well, Dr Jonkers says they could start the process of commercialising the
system in 2-3 years.

Concrete is
the world's most widely used building material. But it is prone to cracks,
which means that structures need to be substantially reinforced with steel.

"Micro-cracks"
are an expected part of the hardening process and do not directly cause
strength loss. Fractures with a width of about 0.2mm are allowed under norms
used by the concrete industry.

But over
time, water - along with aggressive chemicals in it - gets into these cracks
and corrodes the concrete.

Longer life

"For
durability reasons - in order to improve the service life of the construction -
it is important to get these micro-cracks healed," Dr Jonkers told BBC
News.

Bacterial spores
and the nutrients they will need to feed on are added as granules into the
concrete mix. But water is the missing ingredient required for the microbes to
grow.

Concrete is the world's most popular building material, but cracking is aproblem

So the
spores remain dormant until rainwater works its way into the cracks and
activates them. The harmless bacteria - belonging to the Bacillus genus - then
feed on the nutrients to produce limestone.

The
bacterial food incorporated into the healing agent is calcium lactate - a
component of milk. The microbes used in the granules are able to tolerate the
highly alkaline environment of the concrete.

"In
the lab we have been able to show healing of cracks with a width of 0.5mm - two
to three times higher than the norms state," Dr Jonkers explained.

"Now
we are upscaling. We have to produce the self-healing agent in huge quantities
and we are starting to do outdoor tests, looking at different constructions,
different types of concrete to see if this concept really works in
practice."

The main
challenge is to ensure the healing agent is robust enough to survive the mixing
process. But, in order to do so, says Dr Jonkers, "we have to apply a
coating to the particles, which is very expensive".

The team is
currently trying to reduce the cost this adds to the process. But he expects an
improved system to be ready in about six months.

The outdoor
tests should begin after this; the team is already talking to several
construction firms that could provide help.

The
concrete will then have to be monitored for a minimum of two years to see how
it behaves in this real-world setting.

"Then,
if everybody's happy, we can think about trying to commercialise the
product," said the TU Delft researcher.

Even if the
healing agent adds 50% to the concrete cost, this makes up just 1-2% of the
total construction cost. Maintenance is a much higher percentage of this total
cost, so Dr Jonkers expects big savings through extending the concrete's
service life.

Health, Safety & Environment

PRECARIOUS: Without proper safety equipment, three workers put the iron frame for a billboard in place near the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta on Friday. The billboard will display a sign celebrating the city's 480th birthday. JP/Arief Suhardiman

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Water Distribution

Flow of Funds, Flow of Water (WB)

Today, fewer than 20% of households in Indonesia have access to piped water, which is inexpensive and still of reasonable quality compared to alternative sources. The situation has deteriorated in recent years, as the sector can no longer rely on central government grants and loans, formerly major sources of funding.Read More ...

FREE CAR WASH: A taxi is sprayed with water from a broken pipe on Jl. HR Rasuna Said in South Jakarta on Sunday. (JP/J. Adiguna)

GIFT FROM EARTH: Almost half of Jakarta's residents use groundwater as their main source of clean water due to a lack of access to treated piped water. Water comes from wells like the one this family in Kampung Bahari, North Jakarta are using (photo above), or mechanic pumps like this one in Kampung Melayu, South Jakarta. (JP/P.J. Leo)

LATEST NEWS: Photographers covering the deteriorating health of former president Soeharto send pictures through a wireless internet facility in front of Pertamina Hospital in South Jakarta on Wednesday. The service, which was provided by IT company CISCO, has saved journalists the effort of going back and forth between their offices to submit their work. JP/R. Berto Wedhatama